hmmm iv never worked with bonding acyrlic, is it easy? or does it instantly dry like pvc cement? this is genius thanks for the great idea!! for my next project.
plywood and acrylic tank idea
- Thread starter camrsz
- Start date
Nice Tank!!!
To bad building a hybrid plywood/acrylic tank is not ecomonically better these days. A sheet of plywood costs anywhere from $30 to $50 depending on the quality you want.
Acrylic cost about 2x what it did 3 years ago. A little over year ago when I built my acrylic tank, these are the quotes I got for Acrylite GP Cell Cast Acrylic-
A 4 x8' sheet of 1/8" is almost $100.
3/16" $130,
1/4" about $160.
3/8" $190
1/2" $250
That was from AIN Plastics, one of the largest acrylic distributors in the US. Prices have probably gone up atleast 10% since then.
Believe me, I crunched the numbers 5x trying to find the best way to build a tank. The cheapest way isn't the best way either. I'd factor in quality and long term durability into overall costs.
I have some video's of when I built my tank-
Click here to watch bonding-acrylic-3---8-ft-seam
To bad building a hybrid plywood/acrylic tank is not ecomonically better these days. A sheet of plywood costs anywhere from $30 to $50 depending on the quality you want.
Acrylic cost about 2x what it did 3 years ago. A little over year ago when I built my acrylic tank, these are the quotes I got for Acrylite GP Cell Cast Acrylic-
A 4 x8' sheet of 1/8" is almost $100.
3/16" $130,
1/4" about $160.
3/8" $190
1/2" $250
That was from AIN Plastics, one of the largest acrylic distributors in the US. Prices have probably gone up atleast 10% since then.
Believe me, I crunched the numbers 5x trying to find the best way to build a tank. The cheapest way isn't the best way either. I'd factor in quality and long term durability into overall costs.
I have some video's of when I built my tank-
Click here to watch bonding-acrylic-3---8-ft-seam
Yea if the price of acrylic has gone up and epoxy has not then it might not be very economical. also if your tank is vey large where you can not make use of 1 or 2 sheets of 1/8th acrylic then it also might not be. But just wanted to let others potential tank builders out there know there are other options that are just as easy and reliable. My next one will be the same method but using ABS sheets instead.
Could you use extruded acrylic for the inside? I have a ton of acrylic from work and have been saving it up for a while. I have some nice pieces for the viewing windows out of cast. But was trying to figure out the inside. I like the idea of using a plastic on the inside. I have access to every plastic cause I work at a plastics machine shop.
Im surprised nobody else has done this. When you add up all the cost for the coatings and then the risk of it leaking lining a plywood tank with thin acrylic seems like the best way for me to go...especially seeing how I will have no problem cutting the acrylic sheets to the exact same size as the plywood. Anybody else do this lately???
I have been thinking this for a while. Been waiting for some one to try
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Well I think Im going to give it a go on a 96x30x24 high 300 gallon. I think the big secret to doing this is getting things in nice and tight. Im also going to add square stock to the corners and weld them in for added strenght. I think I will also use 1/4 instead of 1/8 and 1/2 for the front. It would be so nice to hear of somebody else who has done this!
Interesting thread. I'm just about done building my 430 gal, so it's to late for me to do this, but it's a good idea. I'll be a little over 1200.00 when I'm done, but I don't think that was to much to pay cause if I tried to buy an aquarium this large, I'd probably be looking at 3-4 times more money. Don't quote me on that cause I don't really know 
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